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Subdivisions Of Scotland




For Local Government purposes,
Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "Council Areas of Scotland"
which are all governed by Unitary Authorities designated as "Councils" which have the option under the
Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997 (as chosen by Na h-Eileanan an Siar) of being known (but not re-designated) as a "Comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic name.

They have been in existence since 1 April 1996 , under the provisions of the Local Government Etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 .

Other administrative bodies (some of which are described below) still follow boundaries derived from older local government arrangements.


HISTORY OF THE SUBDIVISIONS OF SCOTLAND


Before 1996 the local government divisions of Scotland were '' Regions '' and '' Districts '' (each region consisting of a number of districts) and unitary '' Island Council Areas ''; that scheme was introduced on 16 May 1975 .

Before then there existed Counties , Counties Of Cities , Large Burghs and Small Burghs , these being introduced since 1889 . Before 1889 administration was on a Burgh and Parish basis.

Traditionally burghs have been the key unit of the Local Government Of Scotland , being highly Autonomous entities, with rights to representation in the old Parliament Of Scotland . Even after the Acts Of Union 1707 , burghs continued to be the principal subdivision.


MAP







Not shown: Orkney Islands , Shetland Islands ,



STATISTICS











































































































































































































































































































MAINLAND Area
(sq miles)
Area
(km&2)
Population
(2001)
Density
(per km&2)
City Of Aberdeen 70 182 212,125 1164
Aberdeenshire 2439 6317 226,871 36
Angus 843 2184 108,400 50
Argyll And Bute 2712 7023 91,306 13
Clackmannanshire 61 158 48,077 304
Dumfries And Galloway 2489 6446 147,765 23
City Of Dundee 21 55 145,663 2648
East Ayrshire 492 1275 120,235 94
East Dunbartonshire 68 176 108,243 617
East Lothian 257 666 90,088 135
East Renfrewshire 65 168 89,311 532
City Of Edinburgh 100 260 448,624 1725
Falkirk 113 293 145,191 496
Fife 517 1340 349,429 261
City Of Glasgow 68 175 577,869 3307
Highland 10,085 26,119 208,914 8
Inverclyde 64 167 84,203 503
Midlothian 135 350 80,941 231
Moray 864 2237 86,940 39
North Ayrshire 343 888 135,817 153
North Lanarkshire 184 476 321,067 674
Perth And Kinross 2083 5395 134,949 25
Renfrewshire 102 263 172,867 659
Scottish Borders 1825 4727 106,764 23
South Ayrshire 475 1230 112,097 93
South Lanarkshire 686 1778 302,216 170
Stirling 866 2243 86,212 38
West Dunbartonshire 68 176 93,378 531
West Lothian 165 427 158,714 372
''TOTAL MAINLAND'' ''28,260'' ''73,193'' ''4,994,276'' ''68''
ISLANDS        
Na H-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) 1185 3070 26,502 9
Orkney Islands 396 1025 19,245 19
Shetland Islands 568 1471 21,988 15
''TOTAL ISLANDS'' ''2149'' ''5566'' ''67,735'' ''12''
TOTAL SCOTLAND 30,409 78,759 5,062,011 64



OTHER SUBDIVISIONS

Scotland has several other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils.


Police and fire services


Police and Fire service areas date from the era (1975 to 1996) of Regions And Districts and Island Council Areas .


Electoral and valuation

There are several joint boards for Electoral Registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing Council Tax and Rates . See {Link without Title}


Health

See also '' NHS Scotland ''


Transport

See Also: Transport Scotland


The Scottish Executive is due to create several Regional Transport Partnerships, for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings


SHERIFFDOMS

Sheriffdom s are judicial areas. Since 1 January 1975 these have been six in number:The Sheriffdoms Reorganisation Order 1974 S.I. 1974/2087 (S.191)



CIVIL PARISHES

Scotland is divided into 871 Civil Parishes . Although they have had no administrative function since 1930 , they still exist and are still used for statistical purposes such as the census.


COMMUNITIES


The lowest level of sub-division in Scotland is the Communities which have elected community councils (CCs). The main role of the CCs is to act as a channel of local opinion to larger local government bodies. Otherwise they have very limited powers. There are around 1200 communities in Scotland. Not all communities have councils; some have joint councils.

Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent to Civil Parish es in England.


REFERENCES



SEE ALSO